Nearly 50 people attended the launch of enTWine on the 7th Oct the new business forum for Tunbridge Wells enterprises and professional firms.

Nearly 50 people attended the launch of enTWine on Wednesday 7 October – the new business forum for Tunbridge Wells – representing many enterprises and professional firms from in and around the town.

This first meeting was held online but the three organisers, including Victoria Sampson from CooperBurnett, made sure that everyone had a bottle of Whispering Angel wine delivered to them beforehand to enjoy during the event.

Attendees were welcomed by Victoria, who explained that the idea for enTWine came from a lunch she had, post-lockdown, with Lynne Gadsden from Grovewood Wealth Management and Pam Loch from Loch Associates Group. All three were past presidents of West Kent Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which had ceased trading in the summer.

“We agreed that we would all miss the people we had met through the Chamber over the years and the support we had gained through the organisation,” says Victoria. “We wanted a way to retain those relationships and so the seeds of enTWine were sown.”

Pam then came up with the philosophy ‘we listen, we share, we benefit’ – which the three co-founders of enTWine then outlined to the group.

There followed a couple of ‘fun’ polls to keep everyone engaged where it was discovered that attendees were hoping that enTWine would be a forum where they could talk about any challenges they might be facing.

Then came a couple of break-out sessions, where attendees were broken into three groups, giving them the opportunity to talk more easily. The first breakout session covered ‘listen and share’ and gave people the chance to discuss what they hope to gain from enTWine.

Attendees said they appreciated the opportunity to see their peers and would welcome the chance to listen to some motivational speakers as well as gaining some support in adapting to these challenging times.

The next breakout room entitled ‘benefit’ gave enTWine guests the chance to air some of the challenges they are facing currently – including increased legislation, how to deal with changing regulations and worries concerning onboarding new team members.

The date for the next enTWine has been set for Thursday 10 December with the theme of looking forward to 2021, although there promises to be a nod towards the festive season as well.